Small and Simple goals.

“For those of us who have become artistically anorectic – yearning to be creative and refusing to feed that hunger in ourselves so that we become more and more focused on our deprivation – a little authentic luxury can go a long way.” Julia Cameron

I am not sure why the above quote spoke to me… I have been feeding my hunger in many ways I thought, yet there still is a sense of hunger, that I have not gotten any creative work done in ages, I have slacked off on submitting work to redbubble. I have not really felt compelled to photograph much yet I had opportunities and took them at the farmers market on Saturday, as well as the fundraiser my friend was holding for firemen and Burn Foundation. I have also had the opportunity to use the flash Defuser my friend Lou loaned me for the event, and it has been a real challenge to use this tool to create different effects to fill light or to create light in darker spaces, such as at Zoe’s Bar where the fundraiser was held. I am afraid there are not many good photographs from this event.

sun dials in the river

I don’t even really want to write today, ego doesn’t anyway, yet spirit wishes to express itself, to open the flow, so here I am. When was the last time I wrote Thursday? Not sure what happened to Friday, either got up late or because I wrote late Thursday I did not have much to write. That was it. Friday I did research a mens group that Jodi suggested to me when we talked, Man Kind Project , The Man Kind Project Mission to Service states: “The ManKind Project challenges each man to find and develop his own life’s mission … and to live that mission fully with the support of a powerful network of other men. Men involved in MKP live with a sense of purpose grounded in their own unique experiences. With a committment to self-awareness and universalism – they create a web of interconnected communities working to change the world for the better.”

The only way I saw to contact them was to sign up for what MKP call warrior training . Some one did contact me that afternoon, I have not spoke with them as of yet, at the time my friend Linda was visiting and the rest of the weekend just got a way from me. So my task today is to make the connections . Jodi brought up the group because of my discussion about my experience with men, the gay men at Easton and men in general, that I have sought fuller relationships with men yet have been sadly disappointed with most men I have spent time with. I have a been very blessed with female friends, and powerful healing women in my life, yet the male spirit energy seem to elude me in my healing and recovery work.

Also on my list of small and simple goals is to email or call Vince at Starting Point to discuss a space there to offer Reiki and groups. I really feel it is time to step in to this power, allow the energy to inform who I am as a healer, as a person who offers healing to another who seeks it.

Choosing apples

Saturday was a trip to the Collingswood NJ Farmers Market, where I took some photos, trying to out the flash defuser, plus I wanted to get use to the added weight of flash while walking and taking photographs. The shopping was good, bought peppers, and kale, basil to make pesto, cilantro to use in salsa, we have many plum tomatoes ripening in the garden so salsa is a good use for them. Of course carrots, cucumbers, to make salads and pickle. I didn’t buy peaches or apples because Mom and I had bought them on thursday direct from the farm itself. So peach something or other is in the plans, most likely a cobbler. Looks like my creative skills are going to be activated in the kitchen in the next few days.

Piles of peppers and eggplants

Saturday night was the fundraiser in National Park NJ a site of Fort Mercer during the American Revolution which sits on the Delaware River a few miles across from Philadelphia. National Park is a small blue-collar town of simple homes, churches and Bars… My friend Ruthanne had asked me months ago if I would do candid photographs of the event because she thought she would be to busy hosting the party to do so herself, so I agreed. The event was to be held in the local fire hall but insurances and licences where to cost prohibitive. Zoe’s Bar step up and the event was held there. Of course we are grateful for everyone who came out to the event spend money tickets, participated in the chinese auction and 50-50 chance, and bought their own drinks to make this fundraiser happen. Yet to me it was sadly attended, maybe 40 people in all and they mostly kept in their own little groups, there was not dancing, yet dance music was supplied by a dj. I am sure this has cost Ruthanne rather than raised money in the long run. So getting good photographs was a bit of a situation since there was not much going.

Did I win, Did I win?

Sunday was a day of rest, rain storms finally came through causing the heat to move on for a day or so yet before that the humidity was like walking in soup. So sitting here now in the 75 degrees with a nice breeze a blowing is a luxury enjoyed by myself and the dogs…

So I have experience small luxuries to fill my well of creativeness. I have set small goals to accomplish the gathering of abundance in many different forms that will allow my Being to bloom ever more fully!

Growth Question: Are there small and simple goals that will bring abundance to you?

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10 thoughts on “Small and Simple goals.”

Jeff – I really like the title and the photograph, “Sun Dials in the River.”

There are two things you wrote today that really jumped off the page at me today:

“I really feel it is time to step in to this power, allow the energy to inform who I am as a healer, as a person who offers healing to another who seeks it.”

and

“I have experienced small luxuries to fill my well of creativeness. I have set small goals to accomplish the gathering of abundance in many different forms that will allow my Being to bloom ever more fully!”

Growth Question: Are there small and simple goals that will bring abundance to you?

Yes – today is a prime example. Mondays are typically a writing day for me, but not today. I have set myself a series of small goals to clean the parts of the house that don’t get attention as often (i.e., window sills, ceiling fan blades, stairs to basement, etc.). And I’m playing an incentive game: in-between tasks I get to come and look at ONE email 🙂

I appreciate your thoughts on finding (or rather, not finding, or not finding comfort in) spiritual connection and support from men. i’m in the same boat, i think; probably part of why i’m where i am at the moment. (But also so frustrated with the lack of female friends in this space.)

Thank you for checking in! Yes you have placed yourself in the midst of men for your own spiritual journey. Yes a little female energy may work wonders for you too…
I am not sure of the Dan Millman connection to the Man Kind Project, I just started looking into it.
We do have the faeries too…. another blog about that…

I love when I randomly find a blog post that I really need to read. It’s like it just fits with what’s been going through my head. I have a few of Julia Cameron’s books begging to be picked up again. I was just lamenting to the universe at large that I need to untangle some sort of web of goals that I’ve cocooned myself in and actually start creating again. I’ve managed to overwhelm myself. Thanks for the reminder about the small goals.

By the way, I was really struck by your photo of the peppers. The colors just popped!

Today I am truly happy and at peace. Things started going “bad” early last week; I braced myself for them to get worse and they did–in a manner of speaking. But after Friday night, when Scott and I finally pulled all the things that we’d kept putting on the back burner for the past 7 years off the stove and threw them on the floor, everything has just settled into quiet.

Small goal: to take 10 minutes every hour to just listen, even (especially) if there’s no noise other than the humming of the box fans. The reward is immediate, and overly abundant.

Love and peace.

Stacey…thinking it’d be worth the drive just to get her hands on the eggplant. =/

Hi Jeff
You are right! Relationships can be extremely satisfying, they can also be frustrating as well.
I have gotten to a point where I just let them naturally happen,good or bad, trying not to be so controlling and trying to force my expectations of what the best relationship may or not be. Where has this brought me?? Many of both realms, the good, the bad, and sometimes I try not to stick around for the ugly!
Right now I am on my first few weeks of going all cash. Now for a very independent women who has worked Full Timme since I was 15 and have always had a checking account, checksN check card,and credit cards from you name it…Macys, Wards,Sears,Kohls,Dress Barn,Visa, Master card, Visa AMX,Best Buy,Home Depot, Circuit City, Target, Daytons, Dillards,gas cards, etc etc etc…well you get the picture.
I have been setting small goals for about a year and now I have Cash, a gas card, and my corporate travel card.
It is a really good feeling and I hjave. To putt cash away as wellM I amN and always have been one to spend all the money in my pocket, so this is a HUGE growth step for me. I have to take one thing at a time. The biggest thing it is telling me is that shopping is not a hobb) and I need to be more fiscally responsible…More to come…;-)Kim

Like Laurie, I love “sun dials in the river.” How creative is that? I am wondering (just wondering) if you are being creative in other ways that you do not recognize because they are not your “normal” ways of creativity. With regard to the attraction of male spirits, I wonder (still just wondering) if you might need to pay extra attention to the male spirit within you. Learn what he likes, what attracts him, and what he needs. The female spirit within you sounds well-served. Yes, there are small and simple goals that will bring me abundance (like shipping off just one piece of writing to one publisher/agent) yet I wonder why I seem to fill up my space with other stuff. Now, I am off to write about wonder . . .

Hello, Jeff. It’s good to read and see where you are in your process/thoughts/days. Smiling at the small ways you’ve opened yourself to fill your well of creativity even during a challenging week. Small goals that will bring abundance? Every day, lately, I have been very aware of even the smallest feelings of stress, bringing full awareness to them. Moving really deeply into them, turning them around, returning to the joy that we are. For some reason it feels like my body is getting this, truly. It’s hard work, but every small inner recognition and release seems huge these days. Thank you.